Maple Leafs’ GM Kyle Dubas goes all in, acquires McCabe and Lafferty in trade with Chicago

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The Maple Leafs general manager on Monday made his second significant trade in 10 days, acquiring defenceman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks.

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The deal comes on the heels, relatively speaking, of the acquisition of forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 17.

And like that trade, Dubas did not have to part with an integral player from the National Hockey League roster.

Along with McCabe and Lafferty, the Leafs also acquired a conditional fifth-round pick in 2024 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2025.

Going to the Blackhawks are forwards Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev, a conditional first-round pick in 2025 (top-10 protected) and a second-round pick in 2026.

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Chicago will retain 50% of McCabe’s salary. The 29-year-old had a salary cap hit of $ 4 million US through the 2024-25 season, and that drops to $ 2 million for the Leafs in the wake of the trade.

McCabe averaged 19 minutes 29 seconds of ice time with the Blackhawks in 55 games and likely slots into the Leafs’ top four.

The versatile Lafferty can play all three forward positions. He had 21 points (10 goals and 11 assists) in 51 games this season. The 27-year-old is under contract through 2023-24 with a cap hit of $ 1.15 million.

McCabe has played in 483 NHL games with Chicago and Buffalo. Lafferty has played in 191 NHL games with Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Dubas, in the final year of his contract, has said that his status would not impact what could be his final big moves as GM. If the Leafs falter in the playoffs again and Dubas is fired, he will be able to say he did all he could to give the Leafs the best shot to win.

Adding the four players that he has, and without losing a player of significance off the roster, is good work.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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